Footnotes for Logging or Conservation in Southern New Ireland

1.   At the time of our visit, the name of the landowner company was being changed to 'Met-Lak Holdings Pty', to reflect some sort of merger between the Lak Development Corporation and another company, called 'Metsong', which represented a separate landowner faction. The legalities of this process are something of a mystery.
2.   At the time this article was written, the shorter list of exemptions actually approved by Cabinet had not been made public.
3.   It would have been more correct to say that the Task Force had received several promises of financial support (see Filer, this volume).
4.   This is an error. It was not 'self-imposed' but was the result of an NEC decision made on 12/7/89. There is evidence that the New Ireland Premier was already seeking exemption from this particular moratorium by September of that year.
5.   In March 1991, Santa succeeded in persuading the Environment Minister that no Environmental Plan was required for this project, on the totally spurious grounds that it would supply the timber requirements of the mine. In fact, the mining company and DME had already encouraged the development of two small-scale sawmilling operations for this very purpose, and were not at all amused by Santa's intervention. Since the construction phase of the mining project will not begin for at least another year, it is exceedingly unlikely that any of the logs currently being removed by Santa will ever find their way back to Lihir.
6.   The election was held on the 5th of January 1991, almost exactly a month after Minister Stack had issued the Lak Timber Permit, and Mr Wasiale was duly re-elected.
7.   Parts of the footage were stolen from a studio in Port Moresby on the day that this article was completed. The film-makers have since re-shot some of the missing scenes, but the work of editing continues.